Stolen…. Kings Red CS45

[Carl_45]

So, we’re on holiday and received a call from the neighbour this afternoon…. After 10 months wait and only 2000 miles of fun, some low life has broken in to the house and took my car with them on the way out.

I’m not holding out any hope, I’m sure it’s already on a container ship, however, if anyone might spot and recognise it, it’s you good people (aka enthusiasts) on here, a kings Red Clubsport 45, that’s unique enough, but it’s also got dynamic VW centre caps, an official GTI number plate surround and R steering wheel shift paddles, the reg is (was) C19RLD.

[phope]

So sorry to hear this and thankfully you were not at home at the time

I'm assuming you can't track the location on the VW We Connect app?

[MaggotsRus]

Terrible news Carl45, phope is right the WeConnect App with VW should track same. What county / town do you live in just in case it’s now been cloned on different plates so these members can keep an eye out for it. I would certainly speak to VW ASAP. I heard the other day car key burglary thefts are increasing again. ANPR might help if there’s a good police investigator on the case.

[Carl_45]

So sorry to hear this and thankfully you were not at home at the time

I'm assuming you can't track the location on the VW We Connect app?
[/quote

Tried that straight away, car completely offline, doesn’t even say last known mileage anymore. The next door neighbour said his CCTV shows the car driving off at 23:38, I got an email from VW saying the services were disconnected at 00:05, they knew what to do obviously.

[Carl_45]

Terrible news Carl45, phope is right the WeConnect App with VW should track same. What county / town do you live in just in case it’s now been cloned on different plates so these members can keep an eye out for it. I would certainly speak to VW ASAP. I heard the other day car key burglary thefts are increasing again. ANPR might help if there’s a good police investigator on the case.

The police have put a notice on the reg, but they checked the ANPR whilst I was on the phone, last trigger event was in May before we went on holiday.

We’re in south Leicestershire.

I’ll contact VW tomorrow, not sure if they can reactivate the tracking?

From what our neighbour says, it looks like they broke in the house to take the car, nobody has been in the house yet so not sure what else has gone, but the car keys were in a hidden (broken) safe, so presume it’s been turned upside down, I put them in there as it’s a metal box and thought it would protect against any key clone attempts. Worse is, my missus spare key is in there too, so unless we block the car in tomorrow night when we’re home, they might come back for that. I’ll ask the neighbour to block her car in until we can get the locks changed.

[phope]

I keep meaning to place an Apple AirTag securely somewhere in my cars, like gaffer taped under the seat or hidden under the carpet/behind a dash panel - idea being that it will ping a location and tracking signal off any iPhone situated close by, and by being muffled, any noise from the internal loudspeaker will be barely audible to the thieves

[Carl_45]

I keep meaning to place an Apple AirTag securely somewhere in my cars, like gaffer taped under the seat or hidden under the carpet/behind a dash panel - idea being that it will ping a location and tracking signal off any iPhone situated close by, and by being muffled, any noise from the internal loudspeaker will be barely audible to the thieves

Sounds wise. I’m going to invest in an ugly steering lock I think too. Hate that we have to, but I suppose we do.

I’ve spoke to VW we connect, the car has been factory reset so nothing they can do, they obviously knew to do this.

[Exonian]

Sorry to hear this Carl.
It’s obviously a professional job and certainly not an easy to hide car. There are how many examples in the UK? Very few.

A happy outcome doesn’t sound likely although I’m not sure what a happy outcome could be when car theft is involved as it’s a nasty thing.
As said, at least you were away and nobody was harmed. It does sound very thorough though. Scary stuff.

And how exactly do you even replace a car like that assuming an insurance settlement with current lead times and a limited production run?

[Carl_45]

Sorry to hear this Carl.
It’s obviously a professional job and certainly not an easy to hide car. There are how many examples in the UK? Very few.

A happy outcome doesn’t sound likely although I’m not sure what a happy outcome could be when car theft is involved as it’s a nasty thing.
As said, at least you were away and nobody was harmed. It does sound very thorough though. Scary stuff.

And how exactly do you even replace a car like that assuming an insurance settlement with current lead times and a limited production run?

Thanks. That’s my next challenge… the insurance.

I don’t even know how to value it, there’s 5 on auto trader around £46k, but mine had HK, DCC and heated front seats, they don’t, but Red seems so rare too, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think there’s only one other red 45 on here.  Don’t know what I’ll do, I’ve just “joked” to my missus about getting a SportKA for a few months, I really wanted one when I first passed my driving test and they’d just come out…. Every cloud

Seriously though. It feels like an irreplaceable car and I doubt I could find the same spec, I’m gutted.

We only came to Cornwall in the family car because I was scared of scratching mine on the tight back roads and I didn’t want the kids getting sand in it!

[Exonian]

Exactly my thoughts, the car is basically irreplaceable.

You’re being very level headed about it all which is nice to see.

I actually think getting something like the little SportKa is a good idea while you sort everything out and decide on longer term future plans.

And yes, shiny paintwork and West Country hedges don’t mix as our lanes tend to be granite lined beneath the greenery! Sand is just plain evil so your original thinking was sound. Unfortunately someone else had other ideas. Hindsight and all that.